Ambadyache Sasav\ Hog Plums Curry

Ambade is a seasonal vegetable and is found mostly in Goa. It has a sweet and sour taste and hence used in the preparation of Sasav, which is also very typical to Goan cuisine. Ambade is also known as hog plums or amtekayi or ambazhanga.

Ingriedients:
Ambade\ Hog plums - 4
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Red chillies - 2
Methi seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Jaggery - 1 tablespoon
Asafoetida/Hing - 1/2 teaspoon
Water
Oil
Salt

Procedure:
1. Peel the ambade. If they are little bigger in size, cut them into two and boil them in a cooker with little water till they become soft. Also add a pinch of salt while boiling.

Ambade

2. Grind the grated coconut, 2 red chillies, methi seeds, Urad dal and 1/4 spoon mustard seeds to a fine paste. Add water while grinding.
3. Take a vok and add oil. Add the remaining mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add hing.
4. Next add the boiled ambades
5. Next add 1 cup of water and let it cook in the gravy for 5 minutes. Also add a pinch of salt.
7. Finally add the ground masala and jaggery and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
8. Adjust the amount of jaggery depending on the sourness of the ambade.
9. Also add salt or water if necessary.

The delicious Ambadyache sasav is ready.
Serve it hot with steamed rice.

Shankarpali\ Shakkar Parra

Its festive time!! Dusherra and Diwali round the corner.
Time to prepare some sweet savories or faral.
This time, We started faral with our all time favorite Shankarpali :)

Below is the capture of shankarpali, along with some art work by my daughter which she learnt for her Dushera camp.

Ingredients:
Maida\ all purpose flour - half kg
Fine rava - one forth kg
Ghee - half cup
Milk - 1 cup
Jeera\ Cumin seeds - 2 tablespoon
Powdered sugar - one cup
Water - to knead the dough
Oil - for deep frying

Procedure:
1. Take a big bowl or a plate and mix the maida, rava, ghee, milk, jeera and powdered sugar.
2. Next add water to prepare a dough and keep it aside for about 4 hours.

3. Make small balls and roll each ball to form a round circle.
4. Using a shankarpali cutter or a knife, cut it into small diamonds.
5. Deep fry in oil for 5 minutes till golden brown.

Shankarpali is ready.
Enjoy a few hot shankarpali and pack the rest in a air tight container.

Chunna Roti\ Coconut-Jaggery Stuffed Parathas

While I was a kid, my mom used to prepare this delicious Chunna Roti for evenings snacks and serve it to us hot and nice directly from the tava. Mom used to also tell us about her childhood stories and how her mom used to serve all her 6 siblings hot delicious food :). After staying for years in Bangalore, How much I miss my mom made food and also my dear mom.

Coming to the recipe, Chunna Roti is a kind of roti stuffed with a sweet filling prepared using grated coconut and jaggery. It is typically prepared in Goan homes.

Last week I just gave a try to this Chunna Roti. It did not come as best as hers, but still delicious.

Here goes the recipe

Ingriedients:
Grated coconut - half cup
Grated jaggery - little less than half cup
Salt - a pinch
Wheat flour
Water
Ghee

Procedure:
1. Mix the grated coconut and grated jaggery with a pich of salt and keep aside.This is the stuffing. It is also called as Chunn in konkani
2. Prepare the usual chapathi dough by mixing wheat flour, water and a pinch of salt.
3. Prepare round balls.
4. Roll it to spread a little and then stuff the chunn and pack it. Finally roll it again such that the stuffing is evenly spread across. This is similar to how we prepare the aloo paratha.
5. Place it on a tava, grease it with ghee. Flip to the other side and apply ghee. Once it turns golden brown, its done.

Chunna Roti is ready. Serve it hot to your loved ones.